Week 13 (what is media change?)

When looking at media change, we must first outline and understand the term 'media'. Throughout my degree as a media student, there have been a number of different explanations and slightly varying definitions but I think I will use the one that stuck with me the most. When attempting to understand such a broad term we look at the roots of the word 'media' as part of the English language.
The word media stems from, or is the plural, of the word medium which tells us that in general media are a vessel or channel. in contemporary society it is a vehicle or avenue for communication, where the stereotypical use of the word media is given to the news and reporters whose main job is to communicate to the masses. Media change is the way in which both this definition and the way in which we communicate as a species has evolved over time.

When looking at change, and more specifically media change, I like to break it down into the who, what, where, when, why and how. Firstly, when looking at the 'who' (not the band) the evolution of media is quite obvious. From the first signs of  written language (which is a media form in and of itself) media and communications quickly and easily became the primary source of information and learning, making it easy for royalty to control those with little to no education. Fast track to today's day and age and we see what is coined as 'media 2.0' where once professionals were the sole publishers and disseminators  of information, almost anyone is able to both access and publish virtually whatever they like; and if you like the quote 'knowledge is power' by Francis Bacon we can see that there has been a shift in informational power in favour of the public.
The 'what' of media and media change, in my opinion, can be whittled down to Mcluhan's famous quote 'the medium is the message', where what you use to convey your message or the medium or 'media' is just as important if not more important than what you wish to communicate. This has obviously become more prevalent with increasing methods of communication technology.
The 'when' of media change has fast become a question of both speed and permanency. Spoken language was and perhaps still is the fastest way of both conveying and understanding a message, however it suffers in the fact that it is often not remembered. Written language which came later was able to counteract this by being a much more permanent medium, however, suffered in the areas of understanding and speed of communication. This brings us to today's combination of almost everything to create the most reliable, quick, understandable and permanent mode of communication to date, creating boundless possibilities as seen on the internet.
The 'where' of media change I have already slightly covered when looking at the shift from those in power to the general population. Perhaps also under this heading is the discussion of the origins and relative power of the spoken language indicating the rise and fall of empires, however this is a much lengthier topic.
The 'why' can be seen as the reason behind media change, basically why new technology and methods of communications have been put in place. Again, this has already been covered by the 'when', where the need for faster and more permanent communication methods was basically where the money was. (Knowledge is power and money is power thus by simple math knowledge = money).
The 'how' basically arose from the need for a better way to exchange ideas and so the printing press and then computers and the internet were evolved. It can be argued these media inventions created the information ages that followed, however, I like to think of it as the other way around, where these inventions arose from need and were inevitable in the evolution of human kind.

Week 12 (social organisation/generative)

This week's topic on art (as usual when talking about art) became a philosophical discussion on 'what is art'. My personal view on this is just to label literally everything as art, from sculptures and paintings and other "high art" right down to something as mundane as a blank wall (although it seems this is now classified as contemporary art). This stems from the fact that every person in the world has different experiences and interactions with the world creating billions of unique views on the concept of art; where your pencil case may just be an object to you, to someone that designs pencil cases for a living it could be an art form in their eyes.

I held this view through this weeks readings (even though all the examples were actually intended as art pieces) and found some of the artworks to be relatively enjoyable compared to previous weeks. Perhaps my favourite reading this week, Intimate Transactions combined a both technology, media  and art to create an experience unique to each "audience member" or "viewer"; much in line with my views on art. It took a direction contemporary art trends seem to be following, utilizing new media technology to stimulate much more than one or two of your primary senses, but rather has your entire body encounter the artwork. This is very similar to the augmented reality artwork discussed in one of my previous posts (Projection Mapping) which also uses new media technology to create an experience for others. The difference here, however, is the artists are trying to convey their own view of the world to their audience. I guess what I am trying to get at here is that art is predominantly a medium or vessel to convey the message of the artist or creator and so we can say all art (in one form or another) is media. This, in conjunction with my earlier views on art leads me to believe everything can be seen as media.

In this new digital age where everyone can and is a 'publisher' or 'artist', people have come to 'subvert' (in a sense) the use of certain types of media, creating and sharing their own perspectives and experiences publicly. One prevalent example is the use of screenshots or 'photographs' in video games, also known as video game tourism. This is possibly a new direction for both art and media, where the primary use of video game media (which can also be classified as art itself) has been changed into creating artworks that most people overlook when visiting their respective virtual worlds.


Main References:

The transmute colelctive & Partners (2003), 'Intimate Transactions stage 1', Available online at <http://embodiedmedia.com/homeartworks/intimate-transactions>